58. The Vision of Mirza.

Page 214 Grand Cairo, or Cairo, on the Nile, the capital of modern Egypt. Bagdad, on the Tigris, in Asiatic Turkey, the scene of many Oriental tales, as in "The Arabian Nights.”

215 Genius, a supernatural being, of a kind common in Eastern tales (plural, genii).

216 Threescore and ten entire arches. The arches are the years of human life, of which seventy has long been regarded as the common limit. (See Ps. xc. 10.)

A thousand arches. The reference is to the duration of life before the Flood. (See Genesis.)

218 Harpies, unclean birds, partly human in appearance, mentioned in ancient myths of Greece and Rome.

61. The Mirage.

223 Burckhardt, John Ludwig (1784-1815), was a native of Lausanne, Switzerland. He travelled much in Asia Minor and the north of Africa.

224 Clarke, Edward Daniel (1769-1822), a native of Sussex, travelled in the east of Europe, and in Asia and Egypt.

Rosetta, a town on one of the mouths of the Nile, Egypt.

225 Humboldt. See note to Lesson 16.

Niebuhr, Karsten (1733-1815), famous Danish traveller in Arabia, and father of the great historian.

226 Belzoni, Giovanni Battista (1778-1823), conducted excavations and other works of exploration under Burckhardt.

62. A Combat in the Desert.

227 Desert. The scene of "The Talisman," from which this extract is taken, is laid in Palestine and the neighbouring districts. The story is that of the share of King Richard of the Lion Heart in the Third Crusade (1187).

The Knight of the Couchant Leopard, so called from his coat-of-arms, was David, Earl of Huntingdon, heir to the crown of Scotland. Caftan, or kaftan, a long vest with wide, flowing sleeves.

Saracen, a general name for Arabs or other Mohammedans of that time.

228 Moor, used in the same sense as Saracen; literally, a native of Morocco.

230 Emir, chief of a tribe, or one in high command.

231 Moslem, Mussulman or Mohammedan.

Lingua Franca, the language of the Franks-a name applied to the peoples of Western Europe.

232 Prophet, Mahomet, or Mohammed, the founder of the Mohammedan religion (570-632).

Nazarene, Christian; follower of Jesus of Nazareth.

Page

63. The "Cumberland."

233 The "Cumberland." This incident took place during the war between North and South in the United States (1861-63).

Hampton Roads, a branch of Chesapeake Bay, Virginia.

Iron ship, the Merrimac, the first armour-clad ship which took part in warfare.

Plantation strain, as the gentlemen of the South would speak to the slaves on their cotton plantations.

234 Kraken, a huge sea monster supposed to have been seen in the North Atlantic.

Without a seam. The meaning is that the country would again be united under one flag.

64. The "Betsy Jane."

236 Bobs, lowers her flag; literally, makes a curtsy.

Port and starboard, to left and to right (used only of ships).

65. Death of William the Third.

237 Fagon, an eminent French physician.

Albemarle, Arnold J. van Keppel, a friend of the king; created
Duke of Albemarle in 1696.

Heinsius, the leading statesman of the time in Holland, a close
friend of William the Third.

239 Sign-manual, signature: usually applied to the signature on royal messages or proclamations.

240 Commission, a document committing to certain persons named in it the power of acting for the king in giving assent to Bills.

241 Black Rod, the messenger sent to summon the Commons to the House of Lords to witness the royal assent to Bills.

States General, the Dutch Parliament.

242 Burnet, Gilbert (1643-1715), a native of Edinburgh; appointed by William the Third as Bishop of Salisbury.

Tenison, Thomas (1636–1715), Archbishop of Canterbury.

Devonshire, William Cavendish, fourth Earl of Devonshire, created in 1694 Duke of Devonshire and Marquis of Hartington, for his services at the Revolution.

Ormond, James Butler, second Duke of (1665-1746).

He was a

native of Dublin, and aided in the Revolution, leading William's Life Guards at the battle of the Boyne.

243 Auverquerque, Henry Nassau d', was related to the king. He was created Earl of Grantham in 1698, and lived till 1754.

Bentinck, William (1649-1709), a native of Holland, was a life-long friend of William the Third, by whom he was created Earl of Portland.

244 Numbers, measures: a term applied to the regular accent of poetry.

67. Children of the Mist.

245 Ranald MacEagh, an outlawed Highlander of one of the clans related to the MacGregors (see note on Lesson 51), who had escaped from the Marquis of Argyle's castle of Inveraray through the help of Dugald Dalgetty.

Dalgetty, Dugald, a Scottish soldier of fortune, who had served under some of the most noted leaders of the time, as mentioned by himself later on.

246 Peloton, a French word meaning a small company; a platoon or squadron.

Robin Hood, Little John, characters in the old English ballad of "Robin Hood."

Goliath, the Philistine giant mentioned in the Old Testament (1 Sam. xvii.).

Gustavus Adolphus (1594–1632), King of Sweden, a leader of the Protestant party in the Thirty Years' War; fell at the great battle of Lützen.

Wallenstein, Albrecht W. E. von (1583-1634), a native of Bohemia, and a great military leader on the Catholic side in the same war. Butler, Walter (about 1600-1634), a native of Ireland, and soldier of fortune under Wallenstein; afterwards one of those conspirators who murdered him.

Tilly, Jan T., Count (1559–1632), a native of Brabant, and Catholic leader during the Thirty Years' War.

Numidians, a people of Northern Africa (Algeria), conquered by the ancient Romans.

249 Brogues, loose shoes made of raw hide.

251 Sassenach, Saxon: a Gaelic term for English and Lowland Scottish. 252 Montrose. Dalgetty had been sent by the Duke of Montrose on his present mission.

Lochaber axe, a long-handled axe and pike combined. Lochaber is a district of the Highlands of Scotland, in the south of Inverness-shire.

68. Incident of the French Camp.

253 Ratisbon, or Regensburg, a town on the Danube, Bavaria. It was taken by the French in 1809.

Lannes, Jean (1769-1809), Duke of Montebello, a marshal under
Napoleon.

LIST OF
OF AUTHORS,

WITH SHORT BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL NOTES.

Addison, Joseph (born in Wiltshire, 1672; died in London, 1719), united in himself two characters not often found together as the most agreeable writer of his age and its greatest moralist. He reformed the taste and manners of his time by his delightful essays in two successive papers, The Tatler and The Spectator, and at the same time attained a prose style which, though seldom eloquent or grand, is more pure and elegant than had been written in England before him. He also wrote the most admired tragedy of his day, and one of the most successful poems; but his fame in our time rests almost entirely upon his essays in The Tatler and The Spectator, and especially upon his portrait of the good knight Sir Roger de Coverley.

Aikin, John (born in Leicestershire, 1747; died at Stoke Newington, 1822), and Barbauld, Anna Letitia (1743-1825), born and died at the same places, appear together here as brother and sister, and as joint authors of one of the most delightful and instructive books for the young ever written, "Evenings at Home." It is believed that the greater part of this collection was written by Dr. Aikin; but the extract given here seems rather in the manner of Mrs. Barbauld, who was a poetess, and authoress of the exquisitely beautiful lines "To Life," also printed in this volume. She wrote other excellent books for children. Dr. Aikin was an eminent physician.

Allingham, William (born at Ballyshannon, Ireland, 1824; died at Hampstead, 1889), is a graceful, finished, and feeling poet, especially in his minor poems, of which the one here selected is a good specimen.

"Arabian Nights" is the title given to a collection of Arabian tales, so called because they are supposed to be recited to a sultan night after night. This framework is believed to have been added about 1450. The original tales are of various dates, but in general may be referred to

the tenth or eleventh century. The popular English version is translated from the old French one by Antoine Galland, which is on various accounts more suitable for general use than the more literal translations which have been made in modern times.

Audubon, John James (born in the State of Louisiana, 1781; died in the State of New York, 1851), spent a great part of his life in the forests and prairies of North America, collecting specimens of natural history, which he afterwards delineated in his works. The plates of these books are exceedingly splendid, and the text displays great descriptive power.

Browning, Robert (born in Camberwell, 1812; died at Venice, 1889), is of all modern English poets the one whose works take the widest range, and who has depicted the greatest number of personages and situations. Though a large portion of his work is lyrical, he is essentially a dramatic poet, aiming principally at the representation of human action and passion. He is not a profound or original thinker, but brings the soundest common sense to his portrayal of life. It is remarkable that this shrewdness should be associated with an obscurity which, though greatly exaggerated by general public opinion, has done much to limit his popularity. Sometimes, nevertheless, he writes with transparent simplicity, as in the specimen given here; and at all times his manner depends largely upon his subject. He is in an especial degree the poet of Italy, where much of his life was spent.

Bryant, William Cullen (1794-1878), was born and died in New York. He was the first American poet to achieve a high reputation, which he well merited by his noble poem "Thanatopsis," a meditation on Death, which he composed at a surprisingly early age. His chief vocation in life was the editorship of a New York newspaper, which he rendered very influential; but he continued to produce from time to time short poems, always good, sometimes beautiful, like the two inIcluded in this collection.

Bunyan, John (born near Bedford, 1628; died in London, 1688), is one of the great English writers of whom little need be said, because almost everything is universally known. Of all eminent authors he owed least to education, and was even wanting in many of the natural gifts that usually go to make the distinguished writer, but those which he had he possessed in such measure as to place him beyond competition in his own peculiar walk. His literary character is in keeping with his diction, which has but few words, but those the best for his purpose.

Byron, George Gordon Noel (Lord Byron), born in London, 1788; died in Greece, 1824. It would be impossible to give here anything like an adequate account of this extraordinary man, who, after an agitated life, passed in war with the world and himself, died at thirty-six, leaving behind him a mass of poetry which in his lifetime gained him, and not from his own nation only, a reputation as a poet equal to the fame of